Fastening-inserting machine



Oct. 1. 1940! J. T. LANCASTER FASTENING-INSERTING MACHINE Filed June 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Shea; 1

c 9 V J. "r. LANCASTER I 2,216,119

FASTENING-INSERTING MACHINE Filed June 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Pi giZ Patented Oct; 1, 1940 a:

* 1 UNITED, STATES v .2,21c,1 19 i v FASTENING-'INSERTING MACHINE JohnT. Lancaster, Newton, Mass,

United Shoe Machinery Corporation,

assignor to Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 13, 1939, Serial No. 278,891

13 Claims.

This'invention relates to machines by which fastenings are inserted to join work-pieces. It is more particularly concerned with apparatus of the character of that described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,033,158, Standish, March 10, 1936, in which the reactive force produced by the insertion of the fastenings is utilized to apply clamping pressure to the work, to a degree in proportion to the resistance encountered by the fastenings. The invention finds a desirable application in machines for attaching heels to shoes by inside-nailing. f

In the machine of the above-mentioned patent, there is normallymaintained automatically, such a relation between the force required to drive the nails, or other attaching fastenings, through the heel-seat of a" shoe into'an applied heel, and the force necessary to retain the heel,

against displacement, that these aresubstantially equal and opposite, and the heads of the nails will be uniformly seated in the insole of the shoe with the heel firmly attached. While this is ordinarily true, even when there are considerable changes in the character of the heels, conditions may enter which'cause the ratio between the forces to be disturbed. Under such circumstances, the nail-heads may be left projecting from the insole, because the drivers yield in a direction opposite to their inserting movement, during the application of clamping pressure to the work. It is an object of my invention to ensure uniformity in the action of the machine, regardless of the character of the work.

To attain this object, I combine with a worksupport, for example the jack of a heel-attaching machine, work pressing mechanism, which may include av heel-abutment, and fastening mechanism, as a driver-plunger and its drivers reciprocating in the jack, together with primary means for actuating the inserting mechanism and secondaryactuating means for said inserting mechanism, the secondary .means being made ef: feotive in the operation of the primary means.

If the drivers yield oppositely to their fasteninginserting movement under the influence of the.

primary means, the secondary means will produce relative movement between the jack or work-support and the drivers, to compensate for the yield. This secondary means ismade effective by the same reactive force which clamps the work for the inserting operation. In the specific embodiment of the invention-herein disclosed, a reciprocatory plunger is formed in sections, one of which carries the/drivers while the other is engaged by actuating means. The

sections are connected by means movablei'n the operation of the machine for varying the relation-between said sections, this means being shown as a nut connecting threaded portions of the plunger and rotated by movement of the primary actuating means and the work-clamping means together as a unit. Thug-when the drivers are depressed, a compensating effect is communicated through the actuating means to correspondingly elevate them and ensure a full I sinking of the nail-heads.

, In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a heel-attaching machine, including one of the several possible forms of my invention; and v Fig. 2 is a centraLvertical, longitudinal section therethrough. 1

To state briefly the more essential features of the machine in connection with-which I have chosen to illustrate my invention, a'frame 10 carries at its upper, front portion a work-supporting jack l2, provided with vertical passages in'gwhich are arranged to reciprocate driers 14 for'nailsor other fastenings. These'drivers rise froma plunger l6, guided for vertical reciprocation in the frame and having at'thebottom a rotatable roll I8,-whichis urged by a spring2ll into contact with an actuating cam 22. The cam is fast upon ashort horizontal shaft' 2 4,;rotatable in a-block 26 guided in the frame" and held in a normally raised position by opposite springs 28. The cam-shaft is rotatedthro'ugh, an Oldham-coupling 30 from a main shaft 32, and power is applied to such main shaft froma driven pulley 34 through clutch mechanism .36." Depending from the block 26 is a tubular piston 38, operating in a liquid-containing cylinder 40. The cylinder furnishes the lower portion of a slide having side-rods 42, 42, guided in theframe and joined at their upper extremities by a yoke 44. The yoke carries an abutment 14 6, arranged for engagement witha heel I-I tobe clamped upon the heel-seat of a. jacked shoe S. A spring 48 holds this compound slide n'ormallyelevated, with the abutment raised from' the' jack/while said slide may be lowered by a treadle fifl'and' connections atv 52 to cause the abutment-to apply preliminary pressure tothe jackedwork. This having been accomplished, a-connection to the treadle at 54 trips the clutch'to produce a powercycle of the machine, starting the rotation of the cam 22. The contour of this cam. causes it to atonce permit a valve 56 to, close theend of in the elevation of the drivers produces a reaction resisting the turning of the cam, and thus, in its contact with the roll I8, exerts a force upon the block 26 and the locked piston and cylinder, together with the other parts of the slide, so the abutment 46 places final clamping pressure upon the work to resist the insertion of the' nails. Since the reaction is opposite and approximately equal to the resistance which creates it, the

clamping pressure is generally that required to hold the work firmly against displacement, without danger of crushing the heel or wrinkling its covering.

1 In an apparatus such as that above outlined, there maybe characteristics of the material operated upon, which will so disturb the ratio between action and reaction that the clamping force placed upon the heel will be excessive. This would follow were the heel-material to be rather compressible, and yet offer considerable resistance to 1 its penetration by the nails. Or, the heel-material may lack uniformity, the portion which the nails enter being harder than the opposite side against which the abutment bears. When such conditions obtain, as the work is compressed, the abutment 46 moves down under the action of the rotating cam 22 upon the block 26 and the intermediate connections to the abutment, more rapidly than said cam can elevate the plunger l6 and its drivers l4. As a result of this, after the cam hadcompleted its rotation and had permitted the retraction. of the plunger by-its spring 20,'the upper ends of the drivers would not have reached the points for which they were set, and the heads of the nails would be left projecting from the insole of the shoe. This failure to sink the nail-heads, I correct in the following manner. The plunger is formed in sections, there being the upper portion, already designated as 16, upon which the drivers are mounted, and a lower portion 60. The inner ends of these sections are spaced from each other at 62, and there extend into this space from the sections projections 64, 64, on which right and left screw-threads are respectively formed. Encircling these projections is a correspondingly threaded right and left nut 66, having elongated gear-teeth upon its exterior. Meshing with these teeth, and reciprocable in guides 68, 68 .upon the frame), is a rack 16. Into one end of the rack is threadeda screw I2 surrounded by an eccentric bushing l4, which may be secured in different angular positions by the screw. A link 1'3 is pivoted about the bushing, and at its outer extremity is joined the vertically-extending arm 80 of abell-crank-lever fulcrumed upon theframe, the horizontal arm 82 of said lever being conhectedby a link 84 to the forward end of the cam-shaft 24.

. The effect of the connections between the camshaft and the driver-plunger is as follows. Assume that during the power-cycle of the machine the character of the work operated upon causes the cam 22, furnishing the primary actuating means for the drivers l4 and acting against the plunger-roll [8, to materially lower the'bearing block 26 and the connected abutment 46. As this compresses the heel H, the uncontrolled eflect would be to allow the spring 20 to urge the driverplunger down as far as this descent of the cam permitted as a result of this bodily movement of the cam, the drivers would have been raised to a less extent than that for which they are set, and the heads of the nails would not reach the insole. But, upon any such downward travel of the cam, its shaft 24 imparts its movement of translation to the link 84. The bell-crank-lever 86, B2 is thereby turned clockwise (Fig, 1) thrusting the rack 10 to the right, and so rotating the nut Has toseparate the threaded plunger-projections 64, 64 and elevate the upper section I6 of the plunger upon the lower section Bil. The ratio between the lever-arms 82 and 86 and the pitch of the threads upon the projections 64 are so proportioned that the distance through which the drivers are elevated by this secondary actuating means, will equal that through which the cam-shaft is lowered because of the compression of the work. Consequently, the nail-carrying endsv of the drivers will rise to the desired points, and the nail-heads will be fully embedded in the insole. The normal positions of the drivers as a group may be determined conveniently by rotating: the bushing l4 and clamping it by the screw". This alters the initial position of the rack 16 .and the degree of separation of the plunger-projections 64 to raise or lower the drivers.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: I

l. The combination with a work-support, of

work-pressing mechanism and fastening-inserting mechanism cooperating with the support, primary means for actuating the inserting means, and secondary means made effective in the operation of the primary means for actuating said inserting mechanism. 2. The combination with a work-support, of a work-pressing member co-operating therewith, drivers movable to insert fastenings in the supported work, said drivers being capable of yielding in a a direction opposite to their inserting movement, and means operating during the yield of the drivers for producing relative movement between the work-support and said drivers to compensate for their yield.

3; In a heel-attaching machine, the combination with a work-support, of a work-pressing member co-operating therewith, fastening-inserting drivers movable toward the work-pressing member to insert fastenings in supported Work, primary means for imparting to the drivers their inserting movement, and secondary means for moving the drivers in the same direction as the primary means, both the primary and secondary means operating under the power of the machine. 4. The combination with a work-support, of means for'pressing the work upon the support, drivers reciprocating in the support and being depressible from its work-engaging surface, means for elevating the drivers to insert fastenings in the work, and means operating as a result of the depression of the drivers for elevating said drivers to compensate for their depression.

5. The combination with a work-support, of fastening drivers movable therein, pressure means for engagement with the supported work, means fortransmitting to the pressure means the reaction of the drivers in the insertion of the fastenings, and means made effective by the reactive force for moving the drivers toward the work.

6. The combination with a work-support, of fastening-drivers movable therein, a movable actuating member for the drivers, a work-pressing member co-operating with the sup-port, means for connecting the actuating member and the work-pressing member to move together as a unit, and means for. communicating the movement of the connected members to the drivers.

7. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, drivers reciprocating in the jack, a heel-abutment movable toward and from the fective by the elevation of the drivers for forcing the abutment into heel-clamping relation, and. means made effective by movement of the abutment for elevating the drivers.

8. In a heel-attaching machine, a work support, a reciprocatory plunger formed in sections, nail-drivers carried means for the other section, and means connecting the sections and being movable in the operation of the machine for varying the relation between the sections.

9. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack mounted upon the frame and provided with nailreceiving passages, a plunger reciprocating in the frame and having drivers operating in the jackpassages, actuating means for elevating the plunger and being mounted to yield upon the frame, and means for elevating the plunger as a result of said yield.

10. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack mounted upon the frame and provided with nail-receiving passages, a plunger reciprocating in the frame and having drivers operating in the jack-passages, actuating means for elevating the jack, means made ef-,

by one section, actuating plunger, a heel-abutment co-operating with the jack, means for connecting the actuating means and the abutment to move together, and means whereby such joint movement elevates the drivers.

11. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack mounted upon the frame and provided with nail-receiving passages, a plunger reciprocating in the frame and being formed in sections, said sections having oppositely threaded portions with a surrounding nut, nail-drivers carried by one section and operating in the jack-passages, actuating means for the other section, and means for rotating the nut.

12. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack mounted upon the frame and provided with nail-receiving passages, a plunger reciprocating in the frame and being formed in sections, said sections having oppositely threaded portions with a surrounding nut, a heel-abutment co-operating with the jack, means for transmitting movement of the actuating means to the heel-abutment, and means whereby movement of the abutment rotates the nut.

13. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack mounted upon the frame and provided with nail-receiving passages, a plunger reciprocating in the frame and being formed in sections, said sections having oppositely threaded portions with a surrounding nut, a heel-abutment co-operating with the jack, means for transmitting movement of the actuating means to the heel-abutment, a lever fulcrumed upon the frame and connected to the actuating means, and gearing by which the lever rotates the nut. 

